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Prittmnn  Sltrnlngtral  S^mtnarg 

BR  50  .P377  1897 
^J5Jj^^^^'  William  P.  1848- 

A  heartening  word  for  Mr 
Fearina  ' 


A  HEARTENING  WORD 


FOR 


MR.  FEARING. 


A  HEARTENING  WORD 


FOR 


MR.  FEARING 

Or,  Cheer  for  Doubting  Pilgrims 


BY  THE 

REV.  WILLIAM  P.  PATTERSON 


PHILADELPHIA 
THE  WESTMINSTER  PRESS 

1897 


Copyright,  1897,  by  The  Trustees  of 

The  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  and  Sabbath- 
School  Work 


CONTENTS. 

PACK 

Introduction 7 

I. — The  Covenant  of  Redemption  .   .  ii 

II. — The    Witness    of   the   Written 

Word 19 

III. — Our  Calling  and  Election   ...  27 

IV. — The  Ideal  Christian  Manhood    .  33 

V. — Obedient  Service 41 

VI. — The  Prevailing  Intercession    .   .  49 

VII.— The  Celestial  Country 59 

5 


INTRODUCTION. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  Bunyan's 
Pilgrims  Progress  will  readily  recall  the  Mr. 
Fearing  whose  character  is  so  minutely  de- 
scribed therein.  He  is  represented  as  a  man 
"  of  choice  spirit,"  who  "  had  the  root  of  the 
matter"  in  him,  and  who  was  always  "very 
tender  of  sin."  He  felt  that  he  must  needs 
reach  the  Celestial  Country ;  that  he  should 
die  if  he  came  not  to  it ;  and  yet  he  also  felt 
that  if  ever  he  did  get  there,  it  would  be  al- 
most too  good  to  be  true.  He  never  could 
be  quite  sure  that  he  was  actually  in  the  way 
thereto.  He  was  always  afraid  that  he  should 
come  short  of  whither  he  had  a  desire  to  go. 
Difficulties,  lions,  or  Vanity  Fair,  he  feared 
not  at  all ;  it  was  only  sin,  death,  and  hell 
that  were  to  him  a  terror,  and  for  the  reason 
that  he  had  some  doubts  as  to  his  personal 
interest  in  the  Celestial  Country, — his  fear 
was  that  he  might  not  be  accepted  at  last. 
He  "lay  roaring  at  the  Slough  of  Despond 
for  about  a  month,"  and  for  all  he  saw  sev- 
eral of  his  fellow  pilgrims  go  over  before  him, 
7 


Introduction. 

he  could  not  muster  up  sufficient  courage 
himself  to  venture ;  nor  would  he  turn  back. 
However,  one  bright  morning,  when  the  sun- 
shine was  filling  every  heart  with  gladness 
and  peace,  in  some  way  unaccountable  to 
himself,  he  passed  over ;  yet  could  he  scarce 
believe  he  was  really  across.  Through  mani- 
fold fears  and  perplexities,  and  in  much  dis- 
tress of  mind  and  heart,  yet  with  the  way 
made  singularly  passable  before  him,  he  fin- 
ally was  enabled  to  reach  the  Celestial  City 
and  to  enter  into  its  rest  and  peace  and  joy. 

It  has  occurred  to  the  writer  that  the  Mr. 
Fearing  of  the  Pilgrijns  Progress  is  repre- 
sentative of  not  a  few  professing  Christians. 
Of  choice  spirit,  and  sincerely  longing  to  be 
constant  and  loyal  followers  of  Christ,  they 
yet  fail,  strangely  enough,  to  realize  as  they 
might  and  should  that  the  gift  of  God,  "  the 
ageless  life,"  is  a  present possessio7i,  and  has 
promise  of  still  greater  and  better  things  to 
come.  Assurance  of  hope  and  perseverance 
to  the  end  seem  good  enough  to  talk  about 
theologically,  but  of  little  practical  value  in 
the  religious  experience. 

What  Christian  minister  cannot  testify  to 
the  greater  or  less  prevalence,  in  his  own 
pastoral  experience,  of  the  questionings  and 
uncertainties  that  caused  so  much  needless 
distress  to  the  Mr.  Fearing  of  the  allegory  ? 

The  object  of  the  writer  is  to  show,  briefly 
8 


Introduction. 

and  plainly,  the  divine  warrant  for  the  very 
fullest  and  most  joyful  confidence  in  the  ab- 
solute certainty  of  personal  salvation ;  and  if 
what  follows  in  these  pages  shall  be  used  in 
fortifying  the  hearts  of  even  a  few  timid  and 
joyless  ones,  and  in  helping  them  to  see  that 
there  is  the  very  strongest  reason  for  the 
most  cheerful  acceptance  of  the  precious  gift 
of  the  "  ageless  life,"  and  no  reason  at  all  for 
the  least  misgiving  regarding  its  reality  and 
blessed  outcome,  the  praise  shall  be  to  Him 
to  whom  rightly  belong  all  praise  and  honor 
and  power  and  glory. 

The  Manse, 

Central  Presbyterian  Church, 
Downingtown,  Pa. 
8th  August,  1897. 


I. 

THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

A  MOST  important  truth  to  bear  in  mind, 
if  one  would  always  have  assurance  of  hope 
as  an  encouraging  fact  of  priceless  value  in 
the  religious  experience,  is  that,  when  our 
Lord  himself  affirms  that  not  one  of  those  to 
whom  he  gives  eternal  life  can  ever  perish, 
such  impossibility  arises,  not  from  anything 
in  the  believer  himself,  but  simply  from  God's 
immutability  of  purpose  and  promise. 

For  confirmation  of  this,  look  at  the  cove- 
nant of  redemption.  In  all  the  word  of 
God  there  is  but  one  dominant  idea, — human 
salvation  by  a  divine  Redeemer.  Herein  is 
the  sum-total  of  God's  thoughts.  And  the 
apostle  Paul,  viewing  with  that  splendid  intel- 
lect of  his  the  exalted  character  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  all  that  he  had  suffered  for 
man,  very  appropriately  terms  the  salvation 
thus  purchased,  "  the  great  salvation."  In 
providing  so  great  salvation  each  Person  in 
the  Godhead  had  a  distinctive  share. 


A  Heartening  Word. 

I. 

Note  the  Father's  share.  Human  redemp- 
tion is  not  of  the  nature  of  an  afterthought 
with  God.  It  was  not  first  devised  and  re- 
vealed after  man  had  fallen  from  the  estate 
wherein  he  was  created.  Salvation,  we  are 
told,  is  from  all  eternity  (Eph.  iii.  ii).  Be- 
fore God  entered  upon  the  stupendous  work 
of  the  material  creation,  he  thought  of  man, 
saw  him  created  in  perfect  knowledge,  right- 
eousness, and  holiness,  saw  him  yield  to  the 
tempter  and  fall,  and,  thus  thinking  of  and 
seeing  the  human  creation  and  the  human 
defection,  he  thought  also  of,  and  determined 
upon,  human  redemption. 

"  Eternal  election,  profoundly  considered, 
requires  eternal  atonement  for  its  support. 
Both  are  eternal,  as  all  divine  realities  are 
eternal."  In  his  first  epistle,  Peter  speaks 
to  us  of  the  Lamb  foreknown  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world,  but  manifested  at 
the  end  of  the  times, — eternal  reality  becom- 
ing temporal  fact ;  and,  in  his  high-priestly 
prayer,  our  Lord  himself  carries  us  back  into 
eternity  where  we  behold  "  the  redeeming 
relationship  between  the  Father  and  the 
Son.  Even  on  Calvary,  as  temporal  actual- 
ity, the  Lamb  slain  is  only  a  figure  of  speech, 
and,  of  course,  it  can  be  no  more  than  a 
figure  of  speech  as  eternal  reality  in  the 
bosom  of  God.     But  whether  in  time  or  in 

12 


The  Covenant  of  Redemption. 

eternity,  whether  on  Calvary  or  in  the  bosom 
of  God,  the  figure  must  stand  for  something. 
For  us  the  meaning  is  and  must  be,  that  not 
election  only,  but  the  atonement  also  is  eter- 
nal. And  so  the  relationship  of  God  to 
moral  evil  stands  forth  as  an  eternal  rela- 
tionship." 

Man  might  rebel  and  reject  God,  but  God 
would  open  the  way  for  him  to  return  to  his 
former  devotion  and  love.  The  beginning  of 
time  was  indeed  the  first  revelation  of  what 
had  been  passing  in  the  mind  of  the  Creator, 
— that  is  to  say,  when  the  first  man  turned 
his  back  upon  God,  thus  cutting  himself  off 
from  the  benefits  of  sonship  with  God,  he  was 
not  smitten  as  he  deserved  to  be,  but  was 
allowed  to  live,  and  that  being  allowed  to  live 
was  for  him  the  inauguration  of  divine  grace 
in  Jesus  Christ. 

Yet  see  how,  with  the  introduction  of  hu- 
man sinfulness  into  the  world,  the  human 
race  easily  and  rapidly  degenerated.  So 
swiftly  and  so  positively  did  men  descend 
to  whatever  was  unclean  and  repulsive  that 
God  was  obliged  to  adopt  the  most  effective 
measures  for  the  cleansing  of  the  filth  that 
had  been  accumulating.  One  might  well 
suppose  that  with  such  a  visitation  as  the 
flood  a  most  wholesome  lesson  would  have 
been  learned ;  but  what  is  the  fact  ?  The  sad 
history  is  before  us :   man  ceased  not  sin- 

13 


A  Heartening  Word. 

ning!  With  the  new  growth  of  the  race 
there  was  a  proportionate  development  in 
wickedness.  Kingdom  after  kingdom  rose 
and  fell ;  upon  the  hearts  of  the  rulers  of  the 
earth  was  felt  a  mighty  power — the  power  of 
Him  who  turns  the  hearts  of  all  men  as  he 
pleases.  He  went  down  into  Egypt  and 
with  a  strong  hand  brought  forth  his  chosen, 
keeping  them  company  through  all  their 
wilderness  journey,  as  Guide  and  Protector, 
until  he  had  them  safely  placed  in  the  land 
prepared  for  their  habitation.  Even  then  he 
did  not  forsake  them:  with  them  and  their 
rulers  he  was  ever  present,  guiding  them  lov- 
ingly even  into  the  land  of  their  oppressors, 
his  very  mercy  smiting  them  when  needful, 
and  binding  them  up  ;  multiplying  judgments 
and  blessings  for  the  best  results,  and  fencing 
them  in  so  that  in  the  course  of  time  a  rem- 
nant was  preserved  for  their  return  to  their 
native  land. 

Only  God  could  then  see  that  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  conqueror  was  none  other  than 
the  tender  love  of  the  Most  High  ;  and  that 
the  captivity  of  the  chosen  people  meant 
mercy.  Such  a  method  of  procedure  was 
in  reality  the  divine  inbringing  of  salvation. 

With  the  further  passage  of  time  came  also 
the  passing  away  of  Babylon  and  its  glory,  the 
culmination  of  proud,  philosophical  Athens, 
the  universal  sway  of  Rome  and  her  thunder- 

14 


The  Covenant  of  Redemption. 

ing  legions.  Many  a  fierce  battle  was  then 
fought,  and  many  a  field  dyed  with  blood, 
but  to  whom  did  it  ever  occur  to  recognize  in 
such  events  the  unfolding  of  the  purpose  of 
grace  ?  Linked  indissolubly  together  by  sal- 
vation were  all  the  events  of  that  period  of 
the  world's  history.  And  not  until  the  dark- 
ness had  become  thick  darkness,  and  the 
wickedness  of  man  had  become  wellnigh 
universal,  and  formalism  had  grown  to  be 
the  rule  with  but  few  exceptions,  did  God 
deem  it  wise  to  shed  abroad  the  true  light,  to 
dissipate  the  gloom,  and  to  expose  and  con- 
demn the  formalism.  In  the  fullness  of  the 
times  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  Jesus 
was  born,  the  true  light,  indeed,  that  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.^ 

II. 

Notice,  moreover,  the  Son's  share  in  this 
covenant  of  redemption.  We  are  more  or 
less  familiar  with  his  earthly  life — how  de- 
spised and  rejected,  of  men,  he  was !  Just 
what  he  endured  in  the  way  of  grief  and 
humiliation  and  trial  we  can  never  fully  un- 
derstand. And  only  he  could  give  himself 
to  the  work  of  redemption  by  way  of  suffer- 
ing and  death.  Not  even  the  highest  angel 
might  have  the  prospect  of  laying  aside  the 
glory  of  the  heavenly  world  to  tabernacle  for 
a  season  in  the  'flesh  to  raise  men  from  sin 

15 


A  Heartening  Word. 

and  death  to  life  and  peace  and  joy.  Only 
the  equal  of  the  Father,  the  well-beloved, 
could  veil  himself  in  humanity's  form  and 
submit  to  unspeakable  degradation  in  order 
that  the  divine  will  might  be  accomplished 
to  its  utmost  requirement.  How  even  the 
human  nature  of  our  blessed  Lord  shrank 
from  this  humiliation  we  may  know  by  re- 
calling the  agony  in  the  garden,  and  that 
most  pathetic  utterance,  "  Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me :  never- 
theless not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt." 

His  life  of  solitude,  of  three-and-thirty  years 
— alone  even  among  his  disciples,  none  of 
whom  could  properly  sympathize  with  him, 
none  of  whom  could  share  his  feelings,  or 
enter  deeply  into  his  thoughts — was  longer, 
deeper,  fuller,  by  reason  of  its  very  intensity, 
than  that  of  all  the  patriarchs,  than  that  of 
all  men.  He  lived  it  for  the  one  purpose  of 
effecting  our  redemption. 

III. 
Think,  too,  of  the  Spirit's  share  in  this 
covenant  of  redemption.  The  presence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  world,  and  his  gracious 
ministry  in  behalf  of  men,  enhance  the  glory 
of  this  divine  plan.  It  is  utterly  impossible 
for  one,  in  the  spirit  of  prayer,  to  read  un- 
moved the  story  of  our  Lord's  life.  We  trace 
that  life,  in  wonder  and  awe,  from  its  begin- 
j6 


The  Covenant  of  Redemption. 

ning  in  the  manger-cradle  to  its  ending  upon 
the  cross.  But  the  fact  is  that  the  Hfe  of  the 
Spirit,  the  Holy  One  in  an  unholy  world, 
when  rightly  and  reverently  viewed,  must 
seem  far  more  pathetic  and  more  to  be  won- 
dered at.  What  patience  !  What  forbearance 
with  human  folly  !  What  long-suffering  with 
human  guilt !  What  struggling  with  you  and 
me  !  And  for  what  ?  Simply  that  Christ  may 
be  magnified !  What  resistings  and  quench- 
ings  of  his  earnest  and  loving  entreaties  by 
your  spirit  and  mine  !  Sensitive,  full  of  zeal 
as  was  Christ  himself,  yet  infinitely  endur- 
ing !  Why  does  he  remain  ?  Why  does  he 
not  give  up  the  world  to  vengeance  long  and 
mercifully  delayed  ?  Only  because  he  is  here, 
obedient  to  the  divine  will,  to  accomplish  this 
great  redemption.  He  also  will  perfect  the 
great  salvation. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  good  work  of  human 
redemption  is  so  vast  and  important  as  to 
have  engaged  the  eternal  attention  of  the 
adorable  Trinity :  the  Father  sustaining  the 
rights  of  Godhead  in  the  appointment  of  the 
method  of  redemption  ;  the  Son,  as  Mediator, 
procuring  it  by  his  incarnation,  obedience, 
and  death  ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit  applying  and 
making  effectual  every  benefit  in  the  heart 
of  the  true  believer. 

And  in  view  of  all  this  the  question  is  per- 
2  17 


A  Heartening  Word. 

tinent :  Would  God  the  Father  have  devised 
such  a  wonderful  plan  of  redemption  ;  would 
the  Son  have  been  willing  to  offer  his  life  a 
ransom  for  many ;  would  the  Holy  Spirit 
consent  so  long  to  abide  in  the  world,  were 
it  possible  that  the  good  work,  although 
begun,  should  fail  of  completion — were  it 
possible,  in  other  words,  that  the  subjects  of 
redeeming  grace  should  perish  eternally? 
What  wonder,  then,  that  such  an  one  as  the 
gifted  Paul  should  exult,  "  I  know  whom  I 
have  believed"  ? 


18 


II. 


THE  WITNESS  OF  THE  WRITTEN 
WORD. 

I. 

INOT  only  in  the  covenant  of  redemption, 
to  which  reference  has  been  made,  are  we 
privileged  to  ground  our  assurance  of  hope, 
but  also  in  the  explicit  declarations  of  the 
Scriptures  themselves,  to  a  few  passages  of 
which  the  attention  of  the  reader  is  now  in- 
vited. What  mean,  for  example,  those 
ancient  words,  "  Yet  shall  the  righteous  hold 
on  his  way,  and  he  that  hath  clean  hands 
shall  wax  stronger  and  stronger  "  ?  Job  xvii. 
9.  Suppose  the  faith  of  God's  people  is  at 
times  shaken  by  the  permission  of  what  may 
seem  unmerited  sufferings.  Still  they  may 
know  that  God  shall  overrule  them  to  the 
perfecting  of  their  faith,  that  from  the  most 
opposing  forces  they  shall  draw  not  a  little 
of  inspiration  and  strength  for  maintaining 
a  more  earnest  continuance  in  their  good 
way.  "  The  steps  of  a  good  man  are 
ordered  by  the  Lord  :  and  he  delighteth  in 
his  way.  Though  he  fall,  he  shall  not  be 
utterly  cast  down :  for  the  Lord  upholdeth 

19 


A  Heartening  Word. 

him  with  his  hand."  Ps.  xxxvii.  23,  24.  Of 
David,  whom  we  may  regard  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  true  behever,  the  Lord 
speaks,  "  If  his  children  forsake  my  law,  and 
walk  not  in  my  judgments  ;  if  they  break 
my  statutes,  and  keep  not  my  command- 
ments ;  then  will  I  visit  their  transgres- 
sion with  the  rod,  and  their  iniquity  with 
stripes.  Nevertheless,  my  lovingkindness 
will  I  not  utterly  take  from  him,  nor  suf- 
fer my  faithfulness  to  fail.  My  covenant 
will  I  not  break,  nor  alter  the  thing  that  is 
gone  out  of  my  lips."  Ps.  Ixxxix.  30-34.  In 
the  book  of  Proverbs,  where  the  morning 
sun,  in  its  increasing  radiance,  is  used  as  a 
symbol,  it  is  said  of  the  just  that  their  "  path 
is  as  the  shining  light,  that  shineth  more  and 
more  unto  the  perfect  day."  Prov.  iv.  18. 
Going  from  strength  to  strength,  from  glory 
to  glory,  the  believer  finally  reaches  his 
meridian  splendor,  shining  forth  as  the  sun 
in  the  kingdom  of  his  Father. 

Then  recall  those  wonderful  words  ad- 
dressed of  old  by  the  Lord  to  his  people, 
whereby  he  greatly  comforted  and  assured 
them  in  view  of  their  future, — words  just  as 
applicable  to-day  to  every  believer :  "  For 
the  mountains  shall  depart,  and  the  hills  be 
removed  ;  but  my  kindness  shall  not  depart 
from  thee,  neither  shall  the  covenant  of  my 
peace  be  removed,  saith  the  Lord  that  hath 


Witness  of  the  Written  Word. 

mercy  on  thee."  Is.  liv.  lo.  In  the  prophecy 
of  Jeremiah  we  find  God  comparing  himself 
to  a  faithful  and  ever-watchful  preceptor,  fol- 
lowing his  pupils  everywhere,  to  direct  words 
and  gestures,  promising  those  whom  he  shall 
gather  out  of  all  lands  that  "They  shall  be 
my  people,  and  I  will  be  their  God :  and  I 
will  give  them  one  heart,  and  one  way,  that 
they  may  fear  me  forever,  for  the  good  of 
them,  and  of  their  children  after  them :  and  I 
will  make  an  everlastiJtg  covenant  with,  them, 
that  I  will  not  turn  away  from  them,  to  do 
them  good ;  but  I  will  put  my  fear  in  their 
hearts,  that  they  shall  not  depart  from  me." 
Jer.  xxxii.  38-40. 

Then  finally,  we  have  the  words,  bearing 
directly  upon  this  point,  of  him  who  was  and 
is  the  Truth  :  "  This  is  the  will  of  him  which 
hath  sent  me,  that  of  all  which  he  hath  given 
me  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it 
up  again  at  the  last  day.  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  He  that  believeth  on  me  hath  ever- 
lasting life." 

If  then,  the  divine  promise  is  so  full  and  so 
free,  regarding  the  salvation  of  the  believer, 
is  it  not  to  be  expected  that  the  divine  power 
will  be  used  to  make  it  sure  ?  The  apostle 
Peter,  speaking  of  believers,  says  of  them, 
that  they  "  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God 
through  faith  unto  salvation  ready  to  be  re- 
vealed in  the   last  time."     And  our  blessed 


A  Heartening  Word. 

Lord  says  of  his  people,  "  I  give  unto  them 
eternal  life ;  and  they  shall  never  perish, 
neither  shall  any  man  pluck  them  out  of  my 
hand.  My  Father,  which  gave  them  me,  is 
greater  than  all ;  and  no  man  is  able  to  pluck 
them  out  of  my  Father's  hand."  John  x.  28, 
29.  Paul,  writing  to  the  Romans,  declares 
that  "All  things  work  together  " — how  ?  Sim- 
ply through  the  divine  efficiency.  For  what  ? 
For  good  to  them  that  love  God ;  to  them  that 
are  called  according  to  his  purpose.  "  For 
whom  he  did  foreknow,  he  also  did  predesti- 
nate to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son 
....  Moreover  whom  he  did  predestinate, 
them  he  also  called :  and  whom  he  called, 
them  he  also  justified :  and  whom  he  justi- 
fied, them  he  also  glorified."  It  is  a  chain 
which  never  can  be  broken.  What  irresist- 
ible argument !  What  invincible  logic ! 
"  Your  hope  and  mine,  fellow  Christian,  is 
not  in  our  own  power  of  perseverance,  but  in 
God's  preserving  care  of  us.  We  shall  be 
saved,  not  because  we  cling  with  despairing 
strength  to  the  rocky  cross  around  which 
surge  the  angry  billows,  but  because  the 
mighty  arm  of  God  is  round  about  us,  and 
therefore  the  waves  dash  against  us  in  vain." 
Be  not  afraid  therefore !  The  power  of 
God  in  electing,  calhng,  justifying,  sancdfy- 
ing,  glorifying  the  individual  soul !  Think 
of  it,  O  believer !     It  has  respect  to  each  and 


Witness  of  the  Written  Word. 

every  moment  of  the  earthly  life.  It  extends 
to  any  and  all  needs  and  duties.  It  is  fully 
equal  to  every  emergency ;  is  sufficient  for 
the  bitterest  temptation,  the  heaviest  weight 
of  sorrow  or  want.  You  and  I,  no  matter  how 
beset  we  may  be  with  weakness,  or  weariness, 
or  personal  demerit,  need  not  go  a  single  mo- 
ment destitute  of  the  rich  comfort  and  sup- 
port of  the  everlasting  arms.  Can  we  but 
realize  our  entire  dependence  upon  Him  who 
faileth  never,  neither  groweth  weary  ;  can  we 
but  commit  ourselves  unreservedly  to  him, 
and  suffer  ourselves  to  be  grasped  by  the 
Hand  which  keeps  even  the  material  world 
secure  and  fixed  against  the  last  day,  we 
shall  find  ourselves  upborne  and  maintained 
in  a  straight  path ;  we  shall  grow  daily, — 
shall,  at  last,  become  perfect  and  entire, 
wanting  nothing. 

II. 
But,  further,  we  may  not  overlook  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  believer's  union  to  Christ, 
and  Christ's  intercessory  work  in  the  be- 
liever's behalf.  Said  the  Master  to  his  disci- 
ples on  one  occasion,  "  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are 
the  branches :  .  .  .  without  me  ye  can  do 
nothing."  And  elsewhere  the  believer  is 
called  a  member  of  that  body  whose  head  is 
Christ.  How  intimate,  how  vital,  therefore,  is 
the  relation  existing  between  Christ  and  his 


A  Heartening  Word. 

people  !  Fully  appreciating  the  value  of  such 
relation,  the  apostle  Paul  declares,  "Your 
life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  When  Christ, 
who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye 
also  appear  with  him  in  glory."  In  a  word, 
the  life  of  the  Christian  believer  is  certain 
and  cannot  fail,  because  it  is  derived  from 
and  sustained  by  the  life  of  Christ.  There- 
fore said  Christ,  "  Because  /live,  ye  shall  live 
ahoy  Not  simply  to  uphold  them  in  being 
does  Christ  live:  if  he  meant  to  indicate 
nothing  further  in  this  solemn  affirmation,  it 
is  extremely  difficult  to  see  wherein  his  disci- 
ples differ  from  wicked  men  and  devils,  for 
it  is  by  the  divine  sufferance  alone  that  even 
they  continue  to  be. 

And  what  a  successful  advocate  the  Chris- 
tian has  in  his  Lord  and  Redeemer !  There 
is,  truly,  a  vast  deal  of  meaning  in  those 
tender  words  addressed  to  Peter,  on  the  very 
verge  of  his  profane  denial  of  his  Lord, 
"  Simon,  Simon,  behold,  Satan  hath  desired 
to  have  you,  that  he  may  sift  you  as  wheat : 
but  I  have  prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail 
noty  And  who  can  read,  unmoved,  that 
grand,  high-priestly  prayer  of  our  suffering 
Christ,  "  I  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for 
them  which  thou  hast  given  me  ;  for  they  are 
thine  ....  I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldst 
take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou 
shouldst    keep    them   from    the    evil  .... 

24 


Witness  of  the  Written  Word. 

Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth :  thy  word  is 
truth.  .  .  .  Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone, 
but  for  them  also  which  shall  believe  on  me 
through  their  word;  that  they  all  may  be 
one;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in 
thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us"? 

What  rare  comfort  and  strength,  then, 
may  the  true  believer  derive  from  such  teach- 
ing, for  his  seasons  of  spiritual  darkness  and 
discouragement  as  they  may  occur  in  his 
earthly  pilgrimage !  For,  unhappily,  such 
seasons  do  come  even  to  the  most  consistent 
Christian  disciple.  For  physical  reasons  he 
may  find  himself  at  times  overwhelmed  with 
despondent  conclusions  or  thoughts  ;  or,  by 
reason  of  satanic  craft,  he  may  be  overtaken 
with  some  fault,  and  accepting  mere  feeling 
as  a  sure  indication  of  a  state  of  grace,  and 
not  being  conscious  of  any  particularly  warm 
feelings  toward  God,  he  may  at  once  con- 
clude that  he  is  no  longer  God's  child.  Yet, 
even  so  overcome,  he  can  recall  the  time 
when  he  did  seek  2ind.Ji7td  the  Lord,  when  he 
actually  held  sweet  fellowship  with  the  Father 
and  with  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  now 
walking  in  darkness ;  his  way  seems  totally 
obscure.  What  shall  he  do  ?  He  may  still 
know,  if  he  will,  that,  though  his  feelings 
have  suffered  change  and  though  he  may  not 
now  be  conscious  of  the  influence  of  divine 
love  within  his   heart,  the   love   of  God  in 

25 


A  Heartening  Word. 

Christ  has  not  changed  a  particle — not  even 
for  a  moment.  Having  loved  his  own  which 
were  in  the  world  he  will  love  them  to  the 
end.  The  believer  is  of  the  number  of  God's 
chosen  ones  because  of  his  once  having  come 
to  Christ,  accepting  him  by  faith  as  his  per- 
sonal Saviour.  "  All  that  the  Father  giveth 
me  shall  come  to  me  ;  and  him  that  cometh 
to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  "  This  is 
the  triumphant  reply  which  he  can  make  to 
Satan  when  he  would  tempt  him  to  despair, 
the  rejoinder  he  can  make  to  his  own  accus- 
ing conscience.  With  the  assurance  that  no 
one  can  lay  anything  to  the  charge  of  God's 
elect,  he  can  hurl  defiance  at  hell  and  devils 
and  all  his  accusers.  God  has  justified  him, 
and  he  who  alone  has  the  right  to  condemn 
him  has  died  for  him,  and  is  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  making  present  intercession 
for  him." 


26 


III. 

OUR  CALLING  AND  ELECTION. 


H( 


low  reassuring  to  the  anxious  heart  are 
the  very  words  of  Him  who  spake  as  never 
man  spake,  and  who  said  of  himself,  "  I  am 
the  Truth !  "  Notice,  for  instance,  the  deep 
significance  of  such  words  as  these  :  "  All 
that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  to 
me ;  and  him  that  cometh  to  me  I  Avill  in  no 
wise  cast  out;"  "This  is  the  Father's  will 
.  .  .  .,  that  of  all  which  he  hath  given  me  I 
should  lose  nothing;"  "And  I  give  unto 
them  eternal  life ;  and  they  shall  never 
perish,  neither  shall  any  man  pluck  them 
out  of  my  hand.  My  Father,  which  gave 
them  me,  is  greater  than  all ;  and  no  man 
is  able  to  pluck  them  out  of  my  Father's 
hand  ; "  "  Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom 
thou  hast  given  me,  be  with  me  where  I 
am." 

These,  and  similar  utterances  of  the  great 
Teacher,  bring  into  clear  view  the  precious 
fact  of  the  divine  choice  of  souls — a  truth 
which  even  the  angels  delight  to  ponder.  No 
doubt,  to  us  who  are  finite  in  our  capabilities, 
27 


A  Heartening  Word. 

who  can  see  barely  a  step  in  advance,  who 
can  understand  but  to  a  limited  degree,  this 
very  act  of  God  in  making  choice  of  souls, 
and  in  giving  them  to  Christ  as  his  inher- 
itance, is  involved  in  deepest  mystery.  And 
we  may,  with  intensest  concern,  ask.  Why 
were  not  all  men  given  to  Christ  ?  yet  we 
shall  find  our  question  impossible  of  solution 
from  a  merely  human  standpoint.  Can 
fi7iite  7na7i  hope  to  fathom  the  deep  and  hid- 
den things  of  God?  Is  it  not  rather  his  part, 
as  that  of  the  docile  child,  to  trust  the  wisdom 
of  the  Father,  and  to  conclude  cheerfully  that 
whatever  God  does  is  right,  because  it  is  God 
who  does  it? 

When  we  look  closely  and  unsparingly  at 
ourselves  and  see  just  how  unworthy  we  are, 
and  how  useless  at  times,  how  impatient  and 
unspiritual,  and  then  reflect  seriously  upon 
the  wonderful  nature  of  that  love  which  has 
been  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ, — how  forbear- 
ing and  long-suffering  it  is  where  weak,  im- 
perfect, sinful  human  beings  are  concerned, 
— we  are  overwhelmed,  and  we  do  not  mar- 
vel that  Mr.  Fearing,  in  the  allegory,  should 
so  often  feel,  "It  is  almost  too  good  to  be 
true." 

Observe,  in  this  connection,  that  Scripture 

teaches  us,  in  a  way  that  even  the  little  child 

can  understand,  that  God  chooses  men  and 

gives  them  to  Christ  as  itidividuals — divine 

28 


Our  Calling  and  Election. 

love  is  so  specific — they  are  not  saved  in  the 
mass,  but  singly ;  that  being  so  given  to 
Christ,  their  number  is  a  definite  number — 
yet  so  vast  that  no  man  can  count  them — all 
their  names  being  written  in  the  Lamb's 
book  of  life,  as  in  a  census  of  the  population  ; 
that  they  were  given  to  Christ  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world — chosen  in  him  from 
the  beginning  ;  that  Christ  is  their  Redeemer 
because  of  a  definite  agreement  between  him- 
self and  the  Father,  whereby  he  allowed 
himself  to  be  wickedly  nailed  to  the  cross, 
laying  down  his  own  life,  thus,  for  his 
people. 

Memory  recalls  an  incident  which  occurred 
in  the  class-room  of  the  beloved  Dr.  Charles 
Hodge  in  our  seminary  days  at  Princeton. 
The  class,  at  the  time,  was  engaged  in  the 
study  of  the  subject  of  election,  and,  in  the 
recitation,  a  member  put  this  question  to  the 
professor,  who  was  always  ready,  if  he  could, 
to  meet  and  satisfy  every  difficulty :  "  Sup- 
pose, Doctor,  I  am  the  pastor  of  a  church, 
and  there  comes  to  me  an  honest  and  anx- 
ious inquirer  who,  in  our  conversation,  with 
evident  sincerity,  desires  to  know  how  he  is 
to  determine  whether  or  not  he  is  one  of  the 
elect,  what  answer,  if  any,  can  I  truthfully 
give?"  With  that  look  of  rare  tenderness 
and  solicitude  which  every  pupil  of  Dr. 
Hodge  can  easily  recall,  and  in  tones  which 
29 


A  Heartening  Word. 

none  can  ever  forget  who  have  heard  them, 
the  reply  came  :  "My  young  brother,  there 
is  only  one  answer  that  can  meet  such  an 
inquiry,  and  it  is  given  in  the  very  words  of 
the  Master  himself:  'He  that  believeth  on 
me  hath  everlasting  life.'  "  It  is  enough. 
Nothing  more  is  possible. 

Would  we,  indeed,  know  beyond  all  per- 
adventure  that  our  own  names  are  written 
in  the  book  of  life  ?  then  let  us  determine, 
first  of  all,  whether  or  not  we  have  cojne  to 
Christ ;  for  he  himself  declares,  for  our 
guidance  in  this  judgment,  "All  that  the 
Father  giveth  me  shall  cofne  to  me ;  and 
him  that  coineth  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out."  Have  we  come  to  Christ  ?  Are  we 
conscious  of  having  our  affections  and  will- 
power changed  to  the  Christlike  and  the 
heavenly  ?  If  we  can  truthfully  and  humbly 
affirm  that  we  have  come  to  Christ,  and  are 
endeavoring  by  grace  to  excel  in  whatever 
achievements  are  predicated  of  those  who 
are  divinely  revealed  as  belonging  to  Christ, 
we  surely  need  not  doubt  our  calling  and 
election.  As  the  good  bishop  Leighton  puts 
it,  "  He  that  loves  may  be  sure  that  he  was 
loved  first,  and  he  that  chooses  God  for  his 
delight  and  portion  may  conclude  confidently 
that  God  hath  chosen  him  to  be  one  of  those 
that  shall  enjoy  him  and  be  happy  with  him 
forever;  for  that  our  love  and  electing  of 
30 


Our  Calling  and  Election. 

him  is  but  the  return  of  the  beams  of  his  love 
shining  upon  us." 

By  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  precious  life, 
the  Lord  Jesus  secured  for  his  people  untold 
spiritual  wealth,  and  an  eternal  weight  of 
glory.  It  is  all  of  grace  !  free  grace  !  Eter- 
nal life  is  God's  gift  through  Jesus  Christ. 
And  the  gift  is  meant  for  all  who  will  receive 
it.  The  thirsty,  and  those  who  have  no 
money,  may  come  and  buy  wine  and  milk 
without  money  and  without  price.  Whoso- 
ever will,  may  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely. 
It  cannot  be  bought. 

"  What  shall  I  bring  to  thee,  O  Lord? 
Of  what  make  offering  ? 
What  does  my  life,  so  poor,  afford 
That  I  to  thee  may  bring  ? 

"  No  myrrh,  nor  frankincense,  nor  gold, 
Can  I  as  gift  present. 
Like  those,  the  wise  men,  who  of  old 
With  joy  o'er  Jesus  bent. 

"  No  alabaster  box  have  I, 

Of  precious  ointment  sweet, 
To  pour  before  thee,  while  I  lie 
In  worship  at  thy  feet." 

No !    Man  must  come  to  God  confessing — 

"  I  am  trusting  thee.  Lord  Jesus, 
Trusting  only  thee ! 
Trusting  thee  for  full  salvation, 
Great  and  free. 

31 


A  Heartening  Word. 

"  I  am  trusting  thee  for  pardon  ; 
At  thy  feet  I  bow  ; 
For  thy  grace  and  tender  mercy 
Trusting  now. 

"  I  am  trusting  thee  for  cleansing 
In  the  crimson  flood  ; 
Trusting  thee  to  make  me  holy 
By  thy  blood, 

"  I  am  trusting  thee  to  guide  me ; 
Thou  alone  shalt  lead, 
Every  day  and  hour  supplying 
All  my  need. 

"  I  am  trusting  thee  for  power  ; 
Thine  can  never  fail ; 
Words  which  thou  thyself  shalt  give  me 
Must  prevail. 

"  I  am  trusting  thee,  Lord  Jesus ; 
Never  let  me  fall ! 
I  am  trusting  thee  for  ever 
And  for  all." 


32 


IV. 

THE  IDEAL  CHRISTIAN  MANHOOD. 

L/NE  of  the  most  absorbing  questions  that 
presses  for  answer  in  the  heart  of  the  believer 
is  this  :  Will  I  ever  reach  the  ideal  Christian 
manhood?  For  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of 
sincere  Christian  faith  to  be  content  with 
small  attainments.  Simply  to  be  saved  from 
sin  and  its  dread  consequences  will  hardly 
satisfy  such  faith. 

The  scriptural  standard,  we  well  know,  is 
the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of 
Christ.  How  very  far  off  it  does  look  !  How 
impassable  seems  the  distance  intervening ! 
We  see,  here  and  there,  many  who  have 
made  rare  progress,  and  who  like  polished 
and  stately  pillars  are  wellnigh  ready  to  be 
removed  to  yonder  heavenly  temple,  and  to 
be  placed  in  their  appointed  spheres.  Then 
we  look  at  ourselves — how  imperfect  we  are  ! 
how  weak !  how  deformed !  Surely,  the 
present  is  only  prophetic  of  future  disappoint- 
ment and  failure  !  We  can  never  reach  the 
standard !  We  will  never  be  other  than  the 
most  ordinary  blocks  ! 

3  33 


A  Heartening  Word. 

Of  course,  it  is  eminently  proper  for  us  to 
have  some  ideal  before  our  minds  as  an  in- 
centive in  our  daily  struggles  Godward. 
There  is  no  true  follower  of  Christ  who  has 
not  such  ideal, — it  is  his  inspiration  all  his 
life  through.  Conscience — the  bestowment 
of  God  in  every  soul — is  ever  careful  to  em- 
phasize the  necessity  of  personal  goodness 
and  well-doing,  but  until  there  is  a  divine 
revelation  of  the  nature  of  goodness,  both  in 
character  and  conduct,  it  is  impossible  for 
man  to  be  good  or  to  do  good.  God  himself 
must  be  manifest  in  the  flesh  in  order  to  re- 
veal the  grand  possibilities  of  human  nature 
in  their  likeness  to  the  divine  nature.  Hap- 
pily for  us,  we  have  in  the  Redeemer  of  man 
the  perfect  manifestation  of  deity  in  human- 
ity. The  Son  of  the  Most  High,  being  God 
and  man,  comes  to  each  of  us  as  our  Exam- 
ple without  blemish ;  more  than  that,  he 
pledges  us  his  strength  that  we  may  attain 
the  high  ideal  of  character  and  conduct. 

Scrutinize  closely  your  own  spiritual  ex- 
perience. Has  he  not  already  done  much  in 
and  with  you  ?  And  can  he  not  and  will  he 
not  accomplish  yet  more  and  more  ?  Take 
an  illustration  or  two.  In  what  do  you  be- 
hold the  greatest  of  the  wonderful, — in  the 
tiny  seed  which  has  been  endowed  with  life 
and  power  of  development  and  caused  to 
root  itself  in  the  soil  and  to  penetrate  the 

34 


The  Ideal  Christian  Manhood. 

earth  as  a  httle  green  blade,  or  in  the  stately 
oak  which,  giant-like,  crowns  some  wind- 
swept hill,  growing  constantly  stronger  and 
more  enduring  ?  As  we  think  of  this  mighty 
universe,  of  which  our  world  is  but  an  insig- 
nificant part ;  as  we  contemplate  the  unnum- 
bered worlds  revolving  in  space,  each  obe- 
dient to  well-defined  law,  we  are  properly 
awed  by  the  infinite  power  everywhere  ap- 
parent and  in  full  operation.  And  yet,  that 
power  which  so  fills  us  with  the  sense  of  the 
majestic  and  terrible  is  not  nearly  so  formid- 
able and  inspiring  as  that  which  was  needed 
to  create  the  myriads  of  atoms  of  which  the 
universe  is  composed.  To  make  a  single 
atom  demanded  more  energy  than  to  fashion 
and  to  guide  a  universe.  To  resurrect  and 
energize  a  soul,  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins, 
indicates  a  greater  degree  of  wisdom  and 
power,  than  to  effect  the  complete  develop- 
ment of  the  newborn  heir  of  God  in  the  way 
of  righteousness. 

As  you  look  at  the  eagle,  piercing  the 
clouds  in  his  upward  flight,  able  with  open 
eye  to  gaze  upon  the  unveiled  sun,  it  seems 
strange  indeed  that  he  should  have  been  de- 
veloped from  the  featherless  and  impotent 
birdling  in  the  nest,  perfectly  dependent  for 
protection  and  nourishment  upon  the  mother 
bird.  You  hold  in  your  hand  an  acorn  :  it  is 
difficult,  but  not  impossible,  to  realize  that  in 

35 


A  Heartening  Word. 

it  lies  dormant  the  monarch  of  the  forest ; 
yet  you  know  full  well,  as  you  look  upon 
the  oak  in  its  maturity,  that  such  was  its 
origin. 

You  gaze  upon  man,  full-grown  man,  the 
crowning  work  of  the  divine  creation,  the 
lord  of  the  material  world,  making  the  ele- 
ments his  messengers  and  the  mighty  deep 
his  highway  ;  then  you  betake  yourself  to  the 
cradle  wherein  lies  the  helpless  babe,  appeal- 
ing so  mutely  yet  so  irresistibly  to  parental 
care  and  love,  and  you  are  strangely  moved, 
if  you  reflect  upon  the  matter  at  all,  while  you 
recognize  these  as  the  two  intimately  asso- 
ciated phases  of  the  one  human  life.  You  go 
to  Bethlehem,  and,  looking  into  the  rude 
manger-cradle,  you  see  the  divine  Babe, 
cherished  and  loved  by  his  human  mother, 
helpless  and  utterly  dependent ;  then,  span- 
ning a  generation  of  time,  you  behold  that 
same  Babe,  now  grown  to  full  manhood,  per- 
fect in  his  humanity  as  in  his  divinity,  the 
Helper  of  the  helpless,  the  Comforter  of  the 
sorrowing,  the  Saviour  of  the  fallen.  And 
from  this  all-sufficient  Redeemer  you  look 
away  to  the  imperfect  Christian  !  Oh,  what 
infinite  distance  seems  to  separate  the  two ! 
And  yet,  what  is  it  that  you  see  but  the  ex- 
tremes, so  to  speak,  of  the  one  identical 
spiritual  life  ?  For  it  is  a  fact  that  the  babe 
in  Christ  is  to  become  the  full-grown  man  in 
36 


The  Ideal  Christian  Manhood. 

Christ !  As  the  Redeemer  Uved  and  ad- 
vanced from  infancy  to  childhood,  and  thence 
to  manhood,  doing  fully  and  well  the  work 
set  before  him  by  the  Father,  and  was  finally 
crowned  with  unending  glory  and  honor,  so 
each  believer  is  likewise  to  hve  and  grow,  to 
do  and  to  be  rewarded. 

Recall  that  the  apostle  Paul,  writing  to  the 
Christians  at  Philippi,  assured  them  that  He 
who  had  begun  a  good  work  in  them  would 
perform  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and 
that  the  apostle  Peter  says  of  Christians  that, 
as  lively  stones,  they  are  built  up  a  spiritual 
house.  Even  now  in  the  divine  mind  this 
spiritual  house  is  planned  in  its  minutest 
part :  he  who  seeth  the  end  from  the  begin- 
ning knows  each  and  every  Hving  stone  com- 
posing its  walls.  He  has  appointed  each  one 
his  own  place  from  all  eternity — for  the  divine 
purpose  in  Christ  Jesus  is  an  eternal  purpose. 

Yet,  observe,  before  this  spiritual  house  is 
completed  and  its  capstone  is  placed  amidst 
shoutings  of  "  Grace,  grace  unto  it ! "  the 
work  of  discipline  is  to  be  carried  forward 
until  the  image  of  the  Redeemer  is  brightly 
reflected  from  the  human  heart;  the  soul 
must  first  be  purified  by  the  grace  and  Spirit 
of  the  Lord,  and  so  a  meetness  for  its  ulti- 
mate destination  be  wrought  within.  The 
Christian  disciple  is  to  abide  here  a  season — 
the  time  appointed  in  the  divine  purpose — 
37 


A  Heartening  Word. 

that  Christ  may  be  magnified  in  the  daily 
intercourse  with  men,  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
Lord  and  Saviour  may  be  adorned  in  all 
holy  conversation,  that  the  cause  of  truth  and 
righteousness  may  be  advanced. 

In  this  gracious  work  of  sanctification, 
within  and  without,  sharp  angles  of  character 
are  to  be  rounded  off,  unseemly  excrescences 
of  conduct  are  to  chipped  away,  many 
roughnesses  of  temper  are  to  be  smoothed 
down,  many  flaws  of  mind  and  heart  are  to 
be  chiseled  out. 

"  O  blows  that  smite  !  O  hurts  that  pierce 
This  shrinking  heart  of  mine  ! 
What  are  ye  but  the  Master's  tools 
Forming  a  work  divine  ? 

"  O  hope  that  crumbles  to  my  feet, 
O  joy  that  mocks  and  flies, 
What  are  ye  but  the  clogs  that  bind 
My  spirit  from  the  skies  ? 

"  Sculptor  of  souls,  I  lift  to  thee 
Encumbered  heart  and  hands  ; 
Spare  not  the  chisel ;  set  me  free. 
However  dear  the  bands." 

And  the  grand  fact  is,  as  both  experience 
and  observation  attest,  that  each  blow  of  the 
master  Hand,  so  unerring  in  its  aim,  helps  in 
the  spiritual  formation ;  the  various  tools 
used,  though  frequendy  cutting  deeply,  pro- 
duce some  chiseled  beauty ;  every  grating 
38 


The  Ideal  Christian  Manhood. 

file  of  sorrow  that  rasps  the  delicate  heart- 
fibers  serves  but  to  impart  a  more  perfect 
luster,  and  to  bring  to  view  a  diviner  glory. 
Then  begins  the  poHshing  process,  and,  in 
such  process,  beauties  hitherto  hidden  are 
made  to  appear,  and  forthwith  from  the 
smooth  surface  are  flung  back  the  bright  rays 
of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness.  Then  the 
hewn  stone,  no  longer  unsightly  or  deformed, 
but  resplendent  in  its  attractiveness,  is  ready 
for  its  place. 


39 


V. 
OBEDIENT  SERVICE. 

INo  words  could  more  truthfully  set  forth  the 
very  close  relationship  of  the  individual  be- 
liever to  his  Lord,  than  those  addressed  by 
the  mother  of  Jesus  to  the  servants  at  the 
marriage  feast  in  Cana,  "Whatsoever  he 
saith  unto  you,  do  it."  The  relationship,  in 
its  highest  and  purest  sense,  is  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  that  of  the  servant  to  his  master. 
The  duty  required  is  the  immediate  and  un- 
questioning observance  of  the  expressed  will 
of  the  master.  It  is  in  fact  that  higher  Chris- 
tian life  of  which  we  read  so  much  in  the 
Pauline  epistles,  and  which  we  find  so  con- 
stantly enjoined  upon  us  in  the  practice  and 
teachings  of  the  Redeemer.  A  lofty  summit 
it  verily  is,  and  reached  only  as  one  is  will- 
ing, hand  in  hand  with  Christ,  perseveringly 
to  tread  the  rugged  bypaths  of  the  steep  as- 
cent ;  yet,  the  summit  being  reached,  there  is 
such  privilege  as  the  world  knows  nothing 
of, — the  privilege  of  sitting  with  the  Christ  in 
the  heavenly  places,  and  of  hearing  him  say, 
"  My  peace  I  give  unto  you :  not  as  the  world 
41 


A  Heartening  Word. 

giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart 
be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid." 

Down  upon  the  low  level  of  indifferent 
living,  God  is  regarded  simply  as  the  Su- 
preme Being,  the  Creator  and  Sovereign  of 
the  universe, — a  God  afar  off,  to  be  feared 
and  wondered  at,  to  be  approached  in  prayer, 
it  is  true,  yet  only  with  feelings  of  uncer- 
tainty ;  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  to  be  es- 
teemed chiefly  for  the  salvation  from  death 
which  he  can  bestow. 

But  up  in  these  loftier  regions,  where  the 
sunlight  is  shed  radiantly  abroad  in  every 
direction,  and  where  the  air  is  so  invigorating, 
God  is  not  only  the  Supreme  Being  majestic 
in  his  holiness,  but  he  is  likewise  the  loving 
and  faithful  and  sympathetic  Friend  of  the 
trusting  soul.  More  than  that,  he  is  the 
Father  who,  surpassing  the  tenderest  of 
earthly  parents,  cherishes  for  his  children  a 
love  which  many  waters  cannot  drown. 
And  as  the  Son  of  God  is  viewed  by  a 
faith  that  grows  clearer  day  by  day,  as  the 
soul  is  thus  drawn  into  more  confidential 
relations  to  its  Redeemer,  the  will  of  the 
Father  is  seen  more  and  more  unmistakably 
to  be  perfectly  righteous  in  its  requirements, 
and  the  obedience  it  wins  to  itself  is  glad  and 
free, — not  like  that  of  the  slave,  constrained 
and  halting.  Hence,  from  experiencing  a 
mere  grateful  sentiment  toward  God  for  all 
42 


Obedient  Service. 

that  he  has  done  in  the  soul's  behalf,  the 
soul  mounts  upward  to  the  regions  of  infinite 
peace  and  joy.  And  what  loyal  and  joyous 
allegiance  it  is  !  Now  does  the  believer  know 
what  the  apostle  means,  when  he  speaks  of 
grace  reigning  through  righteousness  unto 
eternal  life  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

The  kingdom  of  God  has  come  into  the 
heart  with  power,  but  not  without  struggle. 
The  "  one  simple  purpose  of  loyal,  steadfast 
stewardship  and  service  "  comes  not  unasked, 
nor  stays  unurged.  "  Easy  things  are  of  little 
worth.  The  spontaneities  are  mostly  bad ; 
mere  weeds  and  briers.  Real  goodness  is  as 
much  an  industry,  as  much  a  business,  as 
any  profession,  trade,  or  pursuit,  of  men. 
Every  morning  early,  and  then  again  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  then  at  twelve,  and  then  at  three, 
and  then  at  five,  the  owner  of  the  vineyard 
is  in  the  market-place  hiring  his  laborers. 
The  early,  lost  hours  are  forgiven  us;  but 
when  the  bargain  is  once  made,  there  is 
nothing  for  us  but  work  till  the  great  red  sun 
goes  burning  down."  Mr.  Moody,  once,  in 
reply  to  a  certain  question,  said,  "  I  do  not 
believe  there  is  any  man  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  that  is  happier  than  the  man  who  is 
just  carrying  out  the  will  of  God,  whatever 
it  is  ;  and  I  believe  the  most  unhappy  Chris- 
tian is  the  man  who  is  constantly  going 
against  the  will  of  God." 
43 


A  Heartening  Word. 

This  life  is  not  a  game  which  may  be 
played  with  a  few  successful  moves,  and  then 
the  prize  be  won.  There  is  not  a  man,  how- 
ever skillful  or  prudent  or  far-seeing,  who 
can  determine,  with  perfect  accuracy,  the  re- 
sults of  present  action, — not  even  one  hour 
hence.  And  there  is  no  action,  even  the 
slightest,  nor  a  word,  that  has  not  an  eternal 
relationship.  Words  do  not  die,  deeds  never 
cease  to  exist — they  live  on  and  on,  forever 
potent  in  their  influences.  Hence  the  need 
of  a  mind  infinitely  wise  and  good,  to  direct 
the  finite  being  in  the  whole  course  of  the 
earthly  existence,  that  the  divine  glory  may 
be  advanced,  and  that  the  divine  will  may 
be  completely  realized.  What  cause  for  re- 
joicing there  is  in  the  knowledge  that  God 
in  Christ  is  our  sufficient  Guide  in  all  the 
affairs  of  life,  influencing  us  aright  in  our 
judgments  where  human  necessities  are  con- 
cerned, while  helping  us  in  our  efforts  to  live 
for  the  glory  of  him  who  hath  loved  and 
redeemed  us. 

The  prayer  of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  as  he  was 
prostrated  on  the  road  to  Damascus  and 
there  converted,  was,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou 
have  me  to  do  ?  "  To  do  !  Observe,  it  is  a 
prayer  for  divine  guidance  into  service,  a 
prayer  of  entire  and  heartfelt  consecration, 
reveahng  the  servant's  willingness  to  do  all 
the  Master's  pleasure,  and  his  conviction  that 

44 


Obedient  Service. 

the  Master  had  a  just  and  undeniable  claim 
to  every  talent,  to  every  moment,  and  to 
appoint  every  sphere  of  toil  and  of  suffering. 
It  was  indeed  an  epochal  moment  in  the  life 
of  the  gifted  Tarsian  to  which  he  was  now 
brought  in  the  providence  of  God,  and  in 
which  he  was  summoned  to  a  larger,  fuller 
and  more  abounding  life. 

May  we  not  say  that  there  are  likewise 
"epochs  in  our  lives  when  we  see  that  the 
old  way  of  living,  however  full  of  hope  it 
may  once  have  been,  is  not  the  way  of  life 
in  which  we  must  henceforth  set  our  feet  ? 
The  low  ambitions  of  the  past  are  seen  to  be 
shameful.  Dreams  of  power  and  happiness, 
once  so  fair,  have  grown  repulsive.  Needs 
once  embracing  our  estimate  of  the  worth  of 
life  are  felt  no  longer.  Old  hopes  are  now 
forgotten.  New  revelations  of  truth  make 
wrong  what  once  was  right.  Things  once 
the  end  of  life  are  seen  to  be  but  means. 
The  cup  of  the  past  is  full,  and  to  give  it 
more  of  life  is  waste.  We  are  at  the  end  of 
the  old  way,  and  to  turn  our  steps  backward, 
in  the  paths  from  which  we  are  clearly  called, 
is  to  outrage  conscience  and  deny  the  living 
Christ.  The  Lord  comes  to  us  in  some  sud- 
den flash  of  light ;  some  proffered  opportu- 
tunity  of  larger  service  ;  some  lifelong  sorrow 
that  comes  to  make  the  heart  its  home  ;  some 
fruitful  fellowship  with  a  new  friend,  whose 
45 


A  Heartening  Word. 

life  reveals  hitherto  unseen  possibilities  in 
our  humanity ;  some  great  vacancy  left  in 
the  soul  by  a  departed  hope ;  ...  in  some 
moment  like  one  of  these  the  Son  of  God 
comes  to  each  of  us,  perhaps  when  we  think 
not,  bidding  us  arise  and  enter  upon  a  di- 
viner course  of  life."  There  is  ever  this 
thought  for  our  encouragement  in  all  such 
experiences,  that  whenever  the  Son  of  God 
comes  to  summon  the  soul  to  action,  espe- 
cially by  way  of  the  cross,  he  invariably 
leads.  He  himself  came  into  the  world  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  doing  the  will  of  his 
Father  to  its  utmost  demand,  and  the  mind 
of  Christ,  respecting  this  entire  matter  of 
obedience,  is  very  manifest  in  his  attitude  in 
the  garden  of  agony,  and  in  his  sublime 
utterance,  "  Not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done." 
Hence  the  highest  point  in  Christian  experi- 
ence to  which  the  individual  believer  can 
ever  hope  to  attain,  is  just  to  have  the  same 
mind  that  was  in  his  divine  Lord,  and  to 
walk  even  as  he  walked. 

The  one  consolation  that  comes  to  our 
hearts  in  the  recollection  of  these  truths  is 
that  not  one,  sustaining  this  most  intimate 
relation  to  Christ,  need  ever  have  any  fear 
about  what  is  to  come.  The  way  may  seem 
dark  and  uninviting;  the  heart  may  be 
tempted  to  question  the  wisdom  of  any  ap- 
pointment, but  dread  there  will  not  be,  and 
46 


Obedient  Service. 

cannot  be,  so  long  as  there  is  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  preserving  care  and  power  of 
Him  who  has  called.  Believers,  we  are  told, 
are  kept,  or  garrisoned,  by  the  power  of  God 
through  faith,  and  it  is  the  pecuhar  province 
of  faith,  sustained  by  grace,  to  lead  the  soul 
through  darkness  unto  the  light. 

What  difference  need  it  make  to  any  of 
us,  after  all— if  we  are  truly  consecrated  to 
our  Master's  purpose — whether  we  toil  for 
him  in  the  sunshine  or  in  the  darkness ; 
whether  our  steps  are  set  amidst  pleasant 
places,  or  in  the  rugged  paths  of  a  sorrowful 
experience?  Surely  it  is  all  one  and  the 
same  thing  to  him  who  is  constantly  recog- 
nizing the  divine  presence.  The  chief  anxiety 
is  to  do  the  work  intrusted  by  the  Master, 
and  then,  if  the  storm  comes,  if  the  way  is 
all  hedged  about,  it  will  be  because  thus  the 
work  is  to  be  perfected. 

The  sad  fact  is  that  we  too  often  forget 
that  our  Lord  Christ  "never  pointed  out  a 
path  of  duty,  or  commanded  a  service,  or 
disclosed  a  new  career  of  life,  that  had  not 
somewhere  in  it  a  Gethsemane  and  a  Cal- 
vary." It  is  for  him  to  say  how  we  shall  go, 
whether  beneath  cloudless  skies,  in  ease  and 
comfort,  or  amidst  distress  and  pain  and 
weariness.  And  if  we  have  the  confidence 
in  his  judgment  to  v/hich  it  is  entitled,  we 
shall  know  what  is  meant  by  the  peace  pass- 
47 


A  Heartening  Word. 

ing  understanding,  we  shall  appreciate  the 
joy  that  is  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  we 
shall  be  assured  that  what  he  says  is  right, 
that  all  his  appointments  are  good  and  true. 
"Whatsoever  he  saith  unto  you,  do  it." 
Do  it  to-day,  and  to-morrow,  and  still  to- 
morrow. Be  watchful  ever;  pray  without 
ceasing ;  carry  patiently  the  cross  that  daily 
may  be  laid  in  the  pathway ;  sow  the  seed 
that  is  given  you  ;  wait  upon  the  Lord  in 
faith  ;  walk  with  God  with  a  new  experience 
at  each  step  of  his  sustaining  and  strengthen- 
ing grace,  "dictating  no  terms  to  him.  At 
whatever  cost  accept  the  service  offered  you, 
high  or  low,  far  or  near.  Then  burn  to  the 
socket." 


"  And  He  hath  said,  How  beautiful  the  feet ! 
The  feet  so  weary,  travel-stained  and  worn; 
The  feet  that  humbly,  patiently  have  borne 
The  toilsome  way,  the  pressure  and  the  heat. 

*'  With  weary,  human  feet,  he,  day  by  day, 
Once  trod  this  earth  to  work  his  acts  of  love; 
And  every  step  is  chronicled  above 
His  servants  take  to  follow  in  his  way." 


48 


VI. 

THE  PREVAILING  INTERCESSION. 

1  HERE  is  one  incident  in  the  gospel  nar- 
rative that  is  rich  in  its  suggestiveness, 
especially  to  such  as  are  inclined  to  be  weak 
or  wavering  in  their  faith — it  is  seen  in  our 
Lord's  treatment  of  Peter  in  that  last  solemn 
yet  tender  interview  he  held  with  his  dis- 
ciples in  the  upper  room  of  blessed  memory. 
After  the  institution  of  the  holy  supper,  and 
just  before  passing  to  the  awful  agony  of  the 
garden,  the  Master  says,  "Simon,  Simon, 
behold,  Satan  hath  desired  to  have  you,  that 
he  may  sift  you  as  wheat :  but  I  have  prayed 
for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not :  and  when 
thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren." 
If  we  are  taught  any  one  particular  lesson 
by  such  gracious  treatment  of  the  individual 
disciple,  it  is  surely  that,  while  the  most 
ample  care  and  love  are  the  divine  bestow- 
ment  upon  each  of  the  entire  band  of  the 
disciples,  the  same  blessings  are  afforded,  in 
a  much  more  abundant  measure,  to  those 
among  the  disciples  who  may  have  special 
need. 

4  49 


A  Heartening  Word. 

Who  could  possibly  know  so  well,  as 
Jesus,  how  sore  was  Peter's  need  ?  and  it  was 
all  the  more  deep  and  urgent  because  of  the 
vehement  boast  of  loyal  attachment :  others 
might  desert  the  Master  in  his  time  of  trial, 
but  he,  Peter,  would  be  true  and  unfailing, 
come  what  might !  None  could  appreciate, 
as  did  Jesus,  the  serious  lack  in  Peter's  char- 
acter, and  therefore  the  necessity  of  his  being 
fortified  against  the  attack  of  the  tempter; 
none  understood  so  fully  the  importance  of 
a  perfecting  of  Peter's  faith,  through  the 
elimination  of  every  selfish  element,  that  he 
might  become,  in  time,  rock-like  in  his  de- 
fense of  the  truth,  and  unyielding  in  his 
resistance  of  every  form  of  error  and  unbelief. 
The  night  of  trial  was  very  close  at  hand, 
the  time  when  the  powers  of  darkness  would 
mass  themselves  for  the  defeat  of  the  Son  of 
God.  Fierce  assaults  were  shortly  to  be 
made  upon  the  chosen  ones,  and  unless  there 
was  special  grace  for  the  one  of  their  num- 
ber the  most  easily  tempted,  sad  and  sorrow- 
ful would  be  the  result.  Hence,  because 
Peter  was  really  the  weakest  he  needed  the 
most  strengthening  ;  because  he  was  so  rash 
and  impulsive  he  required  to  be  restrained, 
to  become  more  stable  and  trustworthy  ;  and 
so  in  his  behalf  the  Lord  Christ  besought  the 
divine  grace  and  blessing. 

The  constant  remembrance  of  this  char- 
So 


The  Prevailing  Intercession. 

acteristic  of  our  divine  Redeemer  must  ever 
tend  greatly  to  our  individual  peace  and  joy. 
Not  to  the  robust  and  sturdy  disciple,  whose 
caution  and  prudence  may  always  be  ex- 
pected to  guide  clear  of  danger,  does  he  come 
the  most  frequently  with  help  and  sympathy, 
but  to  the  weak  and  discouraged  one.  He 
naturally  has  a  more  tender  regard  for  the 
bhnd,  and  the  halt,  and  the  lame,  in  the 
household  of  faith,  than  for  those  of  his  dis- 
ciples who  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  full 
vigor  of  life  and  health  ;  who,  fleetfooted,  can 
go  quickly  on  errands  of  mercy ;  who,  able- 
handed,  can  readily  undertake  and  perform 
the  most  exacting  duties  of  love  and  good 
will  to  men. 

If  it  be  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  prayer 
is  the  nerve  that  moves  the  muscle  of  Om- 
nipotence, then  we  can  easily  understand 
what  a  train  of  forces  the  Redeemer  started 
in  motion  for  Peter's  defense,  as  he  addressed 
the  throne  of  grace.  If,  as  Christ  told  the 
Roman  magistrate  during  his  mock  trial  in 
the  judgment  hall,  twelve  legions  of  angels 
would  instantly  be  at  his  command,  did  he 
but  request  such  a  bodyguard,  certainly 
there  would  be  vouchsafed  to  the  weak  disci- 
ple all  that  was  needed  to  strengthen  him 
and  keep  him  from  a  sorrowful  eclipse,  did 
his  Lord  and  Master  only  seek  such  a  bless- 
ing in  his  behalf.  And  this  is  precisely  what 
51 


A  Heartening  Word. 

he  did :  he  offered  for  him  urgent  supplica- 
tions ;  he  interceded  with  the  Father  to  for- 
tify and  estabhsh  his  impetuous  disciple  and 
friend,  that  he  might  not  become  the  prey  of 
the  evil  one. 

Of  the  Redeemer  it  is  just  as  true  to-day  as 
ever,  that  he  is  making  intercession  for  us. 
Think  of  it,  especially  you  who  may  have 
weak  and  wavering  Christian  faith :  Jesus 
prays  for  you  !  Nay  more:  QYtn  before  you 
began  to  be,  he  knew  you,  foreseeing  your 
life,  as  you  have  thus  far  lived  it  in  the 
world — all  the  temptations  and  trials  to 
which  you  have  been  subjected,  all  the  grief 
and  sorrow  through  which  you  have  been 
called  to  pass,  all  your  anxiety  and  desire  to 
live  godly  in  this  present  world  ;  and  he  pro- 
vided for  you  whatever  grace  and  wisdom 
you  have  been  appropriating.  If  you  have 
been  making  any  progress  in  your  spiritual 
career,  if  you  are  any  better  or  wiser  than  in 
the  past,  it  is  because  your  Saviour  has  been 
invariably  and  with  full  sympathy  interested 
in  your  development. 

Then,  too,  he  hiows  all  the  future,  as  you 
mtist  7neet  it, — all  the  bitterness  you  shall 
experience,  all  the  assaults  that  will  yet  be 
directed,  for  your  overthrow,  against  your 
soul  by  the  great  adversary ;  he  knows  the 
measure  of  joy  and  peace  it  will  be  right  for 
you  to  have,  and  he  is  even  now  providing 
52 


The  Prevailing  Intercession. 

for  your  safety,  that  you  may  be  enabled  to 
go  forward  and  to  increase  in  knowledge  and 
true  holiness. 

You  cannot  fall :  possibly  you  will  hesitate, 
and  even  stumble,  but  you  cannot  forever 
break  away  from  the  divine  grasp.  For 
what  did  the  Master  say  ?  "  And  I  give  to 
them  eternal  life ;  and  they  shall  never  perish, 
neither  shall  any  man  pluck  thon  out  of  my 
hand.  My  Father,  which  gave  them  me,  is 
greater  than  all ;  and  no  7nan  is  able  to  pluck 
the7n  out  of  jny  Father's  hand.'^  No,  you 
can  never  break  away  from  the  divine  grasp ! 
Even  Peter  was  overtaken  and  stumbled. 
How  grievous  was  that  denial  of  his  Lord ! 
Straight  from  that  upper  room,  wherein  had 
been  enacted  the  most  solemn  rite  conceiv- 
able, a  room  fragrant  with  the  tenderest 
memories,  Peter  went  forth,  forsaking  him  to 
whom  he  had  vowed  the  most  steadfast  loy- 
alty. Can  it  be  that  he  forgot  those  words, 
"  But  I  have  prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith 
fail  not "  ?  Did  he  lose  sight  of  the  predicted 
possibility  of  his  being  overcome  by  the  ene- 
my, in  the  supreme  hour  of  his  Lord's  un- 
happy trial  ?  There  is,  however,  this  com- 
fort, that  Peter,  while  undergoing  the  terrible 
strain  of  that  night  in  the  judgment  hall,  did 
not  suffer  a  total  extingtdsh7nent  of  faith, 
and  it  was  for  that  especially  that  the  Master 
interceded.     His  confidence,  for  the  time  be- 

53 


A  Heartening  Word. 

ing,  it  is  true,  did  weaken,  and  he  did  fail, 
most  miserably,  to  maintain  his  stand  as  a 
brave  comforter  and  defender,  to  which  he 
had  voluntarily  pledged  himself;  but  as  we 
behold  his  tearful  repentance,  produced  by 
that  wonderful  look  with  which  his  Master 
regarded  him,  after  his  profane  denial,  we 
must  feel,  surely,  that  his  feet  were  not  yet 
swept  ruthlessly  from  the  abiding  foundation. 
Through  the  gateway  of  humble  penitence, 
sad  and  tearful,  indeed,  he  was  led  back  by 
the  angel  of  mercy,  to  Him  who  can  and 
does  so  freely  forgive  and  restore. 

Yes,  you  may  stumble  along,  at  times,  in 
the  path  of  life,  but  you  can  never  perish  ; 
Satan  may  do  his  best  to  entice  you,  and  you 
may,  to  some  extent,  lend  an  ear  to  his  allur- 
ing voice,  but  your  Lord  will  look  at  you 
likewise,  when  the  right  moment  comes,  and 
you  too  will  be  heartbroken  and  undone 
because  of  your  weakness  and  sin.  Yet  he 
who,  with  only  a  look,  breaks  down,  can  also 
build  up  ;  he  who  wounds  can  also  heal :  he 
has  prayed,  is  praying  now  for  you,  and  when 
the  darkness  is  passed  and  the  storm  is 
ceased,  the  sun  will  shine  with  undiminished 
radiance  ;  after  your  denial,  whatever  form  it 
has  assumed,  your  devotion  to  Christ  will  be 
all  the  purer  and  more  constant. 

The  trying  ordeal,  through  which  the  weak 
believer  may  have  to  pass,  may  be  regarded 

54 


The  Prevailing  Intercession. 

as  a  good  preparation  for  future  usefulness. 
The  Master  evidently  intended  to  intimate  as 
much  when  he  said  to  Peter,  "  When  thou 
art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren," — 
when  thou  shalt  have  passed  through  the 
sifting  process,  give  thyself  to  the  blessed 
work  of  helping  others.  Certainly  he  would 
come  out  of  the  conflict  with  new  knowledge, 
he  would  know  himself  better,  would  be  bet- 
ter able  to  estimate  his  own  powers  and  limi- 
tations, and  would  in  so  far  be  more  fit  than 
ever  to  be  a  helper  and  guide  to  those  about 
him.  After  that  dread  night  when  Satan 
so  roughly  used  him,  Peter's  spiritual  stature 
was  not  so  great  in  his  own  eyes  as  when 
he  so  vehemently  and  so  thoughtlessly  af- 
firmed his  fidelity  to  his  Lord — all  the  chaff 
in  his  composition  had  been  forcibly  sifted 
away ;  hence,  as  we  behold  him  on  the  day 
when  the  Holy  Spirit  came  so  overpower- 
ingly  upon  the  assembled  multitudes  in  Jeru- 
salem, he  seems  a  vastly  different  man — not 
only  seems,  but  is  different,  being  now  under 
the  supreme  control  of  the  divine  Spirit, 
which  explains  his  burning  words,  his  irre- 
sistible eloquence,  resulting  in  the  conver- 
sion of  thousands  of  immortal  souls. 

What  a  blessed  privilege  it  is  that  we  can 

have  the  dross  of  our  natures  purged  away, 

that  we  can  have  the  objectionable  features 

of  pride  and  temper   and  self-love   forever 

55 


A  Heartening  Word. 

removed  from  us  !  And  we  should  very  often 
and  very  much  desire  such  separating  and 
cleansing  process,  should  have  in  our  hearts 
some  such  longing  as  Miss  Havergal  has  so 
beautifully  expressed  in  poetic  verse, 

"  O  lead  me,  Lord,  that  I  may  lead 

The  wandering  and  the  wavering  feet ; 

0  feed  me,  Lord,  that  I  may  feed 

Thy  hungering  ones  with  manna  sweet. 

"  O  strengthen  me,  that  while  I  stand 

Firm  on  the  Rock,  and  strong  in  thee, 

1  may  stretch  out  a  loving  hand 

To  wrestlers  with  the  troubled  sea. 

"  O  teach  me.  Lord,  that  I  may  teach 

The  precious  things  thou  dost  impart ; 
And  wing  my  words,  that  they  may  reach 
The  hidden  depths  of  many  a  heart. 

"  O  fill  me  with  thy  fullness.  Lord, 

Until  my  very  heart  and  soul  o'erflow. 
In  kindling  thought  and  glowing  word, 
Thy  love  to  tell,  thy  praise  to  show." 

And  yet  there  are  times,  how  many  !  when 
this  can  be  accomplished  more  surely  through 
the  instrumentality  of  the  scorching  furnace 
of  true  and  humble  penitence :  there  indeed 
the  dross  is  left  behind,  and  only  the  solid 
gold  of  a  godly  character  is  brought  to  view. 
The  fires  are  controlled  by  the  divine  Hand, 
the  hand  of  him  who  knows  so  well  how  to 
purify  and  to  bless. 

What  need  it  matter,  after  all,  if  the  expe- 

56 


The  Prevailing  Intercession. 

rience  is  that  of  affliction,  or  sorrow,  or  sick- 
ness, or  pain, — the  letting  loose  against  the 
soul  of  all  the  artful  devices  of  which  Satan 
is  so  clearly  the  master — what  need  it  matter, 
if  only  one  can  say,  as  the  time  of  the  pil- 
grimage to  the  Celestial  Country  shortens, 
"By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am"? 
Paul,  by  a  most  blessed  experience,  knew 
that  the  more  fully  he  fellowshiped  with 
Christ  in  the  sufferings  of  the  cross,  the  more 
completely  he  came  under  the  power  of  the 
endless  life,  and  therefore  was  the  more  per- 
fectly qualified  for  his  daily  toil  in  the 
Master's  service.  Hence,  in  so  far  as  the 
Christian  is  comforted  in  his  sorrow  he  is  able 
to  point  other  suffering  and  sorrowing  ones 
to  the  God  of  all  comfort  and  consolation ; 
if  he  is  tempted  and  delivered,  and  has  his 
feet  set  in  a  straight  path,  if  he  receives 
daily  strength  according  to  daily  need,  he 
can  go  to  those  who  are  oppressed  with  the 
burdens  and  cares  and  difficulties  of  this  life, 
to  those  who  seem  breaking  beneath  the 
weight  of  grave  responsibilities,  witnessing  in 
His  behalf  who  is  able  to  guide  and  to  uphold 
and  to  make  faithful. 

"  I  would  be  joyful  as  my  days  go  by, 
Counting  God's  mercies  to  me.     He  who  bore 
Life's  heaviest  cross  is  mine  evermore ; 
And  I,  who  wait  his  coming,  shall  not  I 
On  his  sure  word  rely  ? 

57 


A  Heartening  Word. 

So,  if  sometimes  the  way  be  rough,  and  sleep 

Be  heavy  for  the  grief  he  sends  to  me, 

Or  at  my  waking  I  would  only  weep. 

Let  me  be  mindful  that  these  things  must  be, 

To  work  his  blessed  will  until  he  come 

And  take  my  hand  and  lead  me 

Safely  home." 


58 


VII. 
THE  CELESTIAL  COUNTRY. 

1  HEY  "build  too  low,  who  build  beneath 
the  skies." 

The  supreme  moment  in  the  life  of  God's 
beloved  servant  Paul  was  that  in  which  he 
was  about  to  achieve  the  greatest  victory 
possible  to  man,  the  victory  over  death  and 
the  grave.  The  thought  and  hope  of  such 
glorious  conquest  had  animated  and  sus- 
tained him  through  many  years  of  suffering 
and  toil,  and  now,  in  the  divine  ordering  of 
events,  he  has  come  to  the  moment  of  the 
wondrous  consummation.  With  manacled 
hand,  in  chill  prison  cell,  on  the  eve  of  mar- 
tyrdom, he  pens,  to  his  dearly  beloved  son 
in  the  faith,  this  significant  message :  I  am 
already  being  poured  out  as  a  sacrificial 
offering,  and  my  departing  time  is  near ;  I 
have  completed  the  glorious  contest ;  I  have 
gone  over  the  whole  course  marked  out  for 
the  race  ;  I  have  kept  the  faith  :  henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge, 
shall  give  to  me  at  that  day. 

59 


A  Heartening  Word. 

The  very  last  charge  to  the  youthful  bishop, 
no  wonder  it  is  given  in  the  most  solemn 
form,  to  deepen,  doubtless,  his  impression  of 
the  realities  of  the  future  world,  and  to  lead 
him  to  believe  that  they  should  ever  outweigh 
all  the  present.  And  how  are  such  words 
like  a  veritable  "prelude  at  heaven's  gate  to 
the  immortal  anthem  to  be  sung  within"! 
They  are  indeed,  as  has  been  suggested,  "  a 
death-paean  of  matchless  sublimity,  as  cover- 
ing the  retrospect  and  prospect  of  a  Christ- 
like life,  a  life  of  loyal  love  to  God  and 
man."  The  apostle  saw  before  him,  "at  a 
little  distance,  the  doom  of  an  unrighteous 
magistrate,  and  the  sword  of  a  bloodstained 
executioner ;  but  he  appealed  to  the  sentence 
of  a  juster  Judge,  who  would  soon  change 
the  fetters  of  the  criminal  into  the  wealth  of 
the  conqueror  ;  he  looked  beyond  the  transi- 
tory present ;  the  tribunal  of  Nero  faded  from 
his  sight,  and  the  vista  was  closed  by  the 
judgment  seat  of  Christ."  Now  the  only 
remaining  thing  to  be  done  is  to  die :  but 
what  is  death  to  such  an  one  as  Paul? 

When  we  try  to  estimate  the  grandeur  of 
the  change  from  the  corruptible  to  the  incor- 
ruptible, from  the  mortal  to  the  immortal ;  as 
we  think  of  the  eternal  blessedness  already 
entered  upon  in  the  very  moment  of  the 
change,  we  instinctively  take  upon  our  lips 
the  words  of  Paul,  with  which  he  boldly 
60 


The  Celestial  Country. 

challenges  the  seeming  supremacy  of  man's 
last  enemy — "O  death,  where  is  thy  sting? 
O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  .  .  ,  Thanks 
be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ " — and  we 
feel  that  not  more  completely  nor  more  suit- 
ably could  the  believer's  mastership  over 
death  be  set  forth. 

The  life  of  the  Christian  as  lived  in  the 
world,  in  much  weakness  it  may  be,  in  weari- 
ness and  pain  ofttimes, — what  is  it  but  one  of 
the  grandeurs  of  God's  providences  ?  And 
his  death,  come  how  or  when  it  may, — what 
is  it  but  the  very  glory  of  those  same  provi- 
dences ?  To  our  sight  and  thought  death  is 
only  weakness  ;  he  makes  it  power.  We,  in 
the  poverty  of  human  apprehension,  call  it 
simply  a  departure  out  of  this  world ;  he  in 
the  wealth  of  his  infinite  comprehension, 
terms  it  a  triumphant  entrance  into  his  king- 
dom. 

You  look  upon  the  nest  wherein  the  mother 
bird  only  a  little  while  ago  brought  forth  her 
young ;  whatever  of  life  was  there  has  gone, 
now  nothing  abides  but  a  rejected  nest  and 
shattered  shell.  Restricting  thought  to  these, 
you  are  inclined  to  say.  What  destruction  is 
here  !  what  disaster  is  this  !  But  when  turn- 
ing from  these  you  look  upward  into  the 
bright  and  beautiful  blue  of  the  heavens ; 
when  you  gaze  outward  upon  the  works  of 
6i 


A  Heartening  Word. 

God's  hand  in  nature,  beholding  the  divine 
goodness  and  wisdom  everywhere  manifest, 
seeing  in  reahty  a  world  instinct  with  life  and 
beauty,  and  vocal  with  praise,  you  at  once 
recall  your  premature  judgment,  and  say. 
This  is  not  destruction,  this  is  not  disaster ; 
this  bursting  of  the  shell  is  verily  a  relief,  and 
is  profitable ;  the  life  that  was  intended  for 
something  better  and  grander,  after  its  period 
of  partial  development,  has  broken  through 
its  environs,  and  passed  victoriously  into  a 
world  unspeakably  more  glorious  and  more 
enduring. 

It  was  a  favorite  thought  of  John  Howe, 
whenever  he  reflected  upon  the  decease  of 
the  believer,  that  it  is  but  a  translation  out  of 
a  valley  of  death  into  a  region  of  perfect  and 
everlasting  life — it  is  preeminently  a  birth 
into  a  world  more  lightsome,  more  pure,  and 
more  glorious. 

Of  that  better  land,  into  which  the  per- 
fected soul  is  ushered  with  the  rejoicings 
of  ministering  spirits,  we  are  not  left  in  utter 
ignorance.  The  Celestial  City  is  not  entirely 
hidden  from  our  view.  Taking  our  place  by 
the  side  of  the  exiled  disciple  upon  Patmos, 
we  shall  see  it  even  as  he  saw  it  in  apocalyp- 
tic vision  :  rich  in  its  gates  of  pearl ;  its  walls 
resplendent  with  the  brilliancy  of  jasper,  and 
sapphire,  and  emerald  ;  its  streets  of  pure 
gold,  never  "deformed  by  the  thorns  and 
62 


The  Celestial  Country. 

weeds  of  a  sin-bearing  soil ; "  its  pure  river 
of  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding 
out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb ; 
its  tree  of  life  in  the  midst  of  the  street  and 
on  either  side  of  the  river,  yielding  its  fruit 
and  its  leaves  for  the  healing  of  the  nations  ; 
its  atmosphere  pure  and  invigorating,  and 
not  once  disturbed  by  the  sighs  of  distress  or 
pain.  In  the  Celestial  City  is  no  more  curse  : 
but  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  is  in 
it ;  and  his  servants  serve  him ;  there  they 
see  his  face  ;  there  his  name  is  in  their  fore- 
heads ;  there  is  no  night  there  ;  and  they 
need  no  candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun,  for 
the  Lord  God  giveth  them  light ;  and  he 
wipes  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes. 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  apostle 
Paul,  with  his  entrancing  and  unutterable 
views  of  the  heavenly  state,  and  animated  by 
his  intense  devotion  to  his  Lord,  should  have 
desired  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
which  to  him  was  far  better  ?  No  doubt, 
when  immediately  confronted  by  martyrdom, 
he  was  comforted  greatly  by  the  memory  of 
his  past  life  spent  in  the  service  of  the  Mas- 
ter. How  he  could  exult,  "  I  have  fought  the 
good  fight,  I  have  kept  the  faith  !"  Even  so 
is  it  with  the  believer  to-day  who  receives  the 
summons  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ. 
It  is  far  better  to  go.  It  was,  truly,  an  in- 
estimable privilege  to  be  permitted  to  spend 

63 


A  Heartening  Word. 

and  to  be  spent  in  doing  God's  will, — in 
ministering  to  the  needy,  in  speaking  words 
of  cheer  and  comfort,  in  binding  up  the 
broken-hearted,  and  in  encouraging  the  weak 
and  desponding  ones, — ^but  now  that  the 
Master  calls,  now  that  it  is  the  divine  will  to 
lay  down  the  burden  of  life,  it  is  far,  far  bet- 
ter to  go ;  to  go  and  be  with  him  who  is  love, 
to  be  with  him  where  there  is  no  more  sin, 
no  more  pain,  no  more  death. 

Think  of  the  reward  to  which  the  be- 
liever hastens,  in  thus  gladly  responding  to 
the  divine  summons  !  If  there  have  been  in- 
deed years  of  activity  and  holy  zeal  in  the 
service  of  the  Redeemer,  such  activity  and 
zeal  are  so  closely  inwrought  with  the  very 
texture  of  his  soul  as  to  render  a  separation 
impossible.  Nothing  is  forgotten,  nothing  is 
lost: 

"  The  look  of  sympathy,  the  gentle  word, 
Spoken  so  low  that  only  angels  heard ; 
The  secret  art  of  pure  self-sacrifice, 
Unseen  by  men,  but  marked  by  angels'  eyes, — 
These  are  not  lost. 

"  The  sacred  music  of  a  tender  strain, 
Wrung  from  a  poet's  heart  by  grief  and  pain 
And  chanted  timidly,  with  doubt  and  fear. 
To  busy  crowds,  who  scarcely  paused  to  hear, — 
These  are  not  lost. 

"  The  kindly  plans  devised  for  others'  good, 
So  seldom  guessed,  so  little  understood ; 
64 


f 


The  Celestial  Country. 

The  quiet,  steadfast  love  that  strove  to  win 
Some  wanderer  from  the  ways  of  sin, — 
These  are  not  lost. 

"  Not  lost,  O  Lord !  for  in  thy  City  bright 
Our  eyes  shall  see  the  past  by  clearer  light. 
And  things  long  hidden  from  our  gaze  below 
Thou  wilt  reveal ;  and  we  shall  surely  know 
These  are  not  lost." 

Think,  too,  of  the  joyful  reunions  in  the 
Celestial  City.  The  social  life  upon  earth 
is  full  of  its  sweet  attractiveness  in  many 
instances,  but  it  is  not  intended  to  be 
permanent,  nor  could  we  wish  it  to  be  so. 
Now  and  again,  one  and  another  drops  out 
of  the  ranks,  passing  into  the  higher  realm, 
into  the  more  perfect  life.  Who  can  meas- 
ure the  joy  and  satisfaction  with  which  souls, 
separated  for  a  time,  meet  in  the  Father's 
house — meet  7iever7nore  to  part !  We  think 
of  them,  in  the  ineffable  brightness  of  the 
heavenly  world,  instantly  and  quickly  recog- 
nizing each  other's  presence,  and,  with  un- 
bounded delight,  holding  fellowship  respect- 
ing all  that  God  has  done  for  them.  Hence 
we  can  fully  appreciate  the  aptness  of 
Charles  Kingsley's  remark  when,  speaking 
of  the  earthly  bliss,  he  declares  that  it  is 
"  the  sacrament  of  a  higher  union.  Torn 
will  be  the  thorn  from  every  rose,  and  sweet- 
ened will  be  every  nectar-cup  to  perfect  se- 
curity of  blessedness  in  this  life,  to  feel  that 
5  65 


A  Heartening  Word. 

there  is  more  in  store  for  us,  that  all  expres- 
sions of  love  here  are  but  dim  shadows  of  a 
union  which  shall  be  perfect,  if  we  will  but 
work  here  so  as  to  work  out  our  salvation." 

"What  Mary's  cottage  at  Bethany  had 
been  to  the  little  company  during  the  holy 
week,  with  its  quiet  rest  after  the  daily  tur- 
moil of  Jerusalem  ;  what  some  humble  house 
on  the  shore  of  Galilee  was  to  St.  John,  with 
its  associations  of  Salome ;  what  the  great 
temple  was  to  the  pious  Jews,  with  its  pres- 
ence of  the  Eternal,  that  on  the  higher  scale 
was  heaven.  Jesus  availed  himself  of  a 
wealth  of  tender  recollections  and  placed 
heaven  in  the  heart  of  humanity  when  he 
said,  '  My  Father's  house.' 

"Any  view  of  the  future  may  be  fairly  tried 
by  this  criterion — does  it  strengthen,  gladden, 
inspire  us  in  the  present  ?  Whenever  this 
question  is  put,  we  turn  to  Jesus  with  his 
doctrine  of  continuity.  Where  the  traditional 
forecast  fails  is  in  the  absence  of  hope.  It 
takes  all  purpose  from  our  present  effort, 
whose  hard-won  gains  in  service  are  to  be 
flung  away.  It  takes  all  opportunity  from 
the  future,  which  is  to  be  a  state  of  practical 
inertia.  It  is  the  depreciation  of  the  market 
place,  the  workshop,  the  study ;  it  is  the 
vindication  of  a  Trappist  monastery.  Where 
the  forecast  of  Jesus  tells  is  in  the  spirit  of 
hope ;  it  invests  the  most  trivial  or  sordid 
66 


The  Celestial  Country. 

details  of  this  life  with  significance,  changing 
them  into  the  elementary  exercises  of  a  great 
science  ;  it  points  to  the  future  as  the  heights 
of  life  to  which  we  are  climbing  out  of  this 
narrow  valley.  One  of  the  most  pathetic 
sights  in  this  life  is  to  see  a  dying  man  strug- 
gling to  the  last  in  his  calling,  putting  another 
touch  to  his  unfinished  picture,  adding  an- 
other page  to  his  half-written  book.  '  Art  is 
long ;  life  is  short '  comes  to  our  mind,  but 
how  stands  the  case  ?  If  the  monkish  heaven 
be  true,  then  this  foolish  mortal  would  better 
be  done  with  art  or  letters,  for  they  can  have 
no  place  in  the  land  to  which  he  hasteth. 
If  Jesus'  heaven  be  true,  then  he  is  bound 
to  gather  the  last  penny  of  interest  on  his 
talents,  and  make  himself  fit  for  his  new 
work.  Jesus  heartens  his  followers  by  an 
assurance  that  not  one  hour  of  labor,  not  one 
grain  of  attainment,  not  one  honest  effort  on 
to  the  moment  when  the  tools  of  earth  drop 
from  our  hands,  but  will  tell  on  the  after  life." 
As  we  are  permitted,  so  frequently,  to  look 
upon  lives  that  are  lived  in  all  holy  obedience 
to  the  divine  will ;  that  abound  in  loving  and 
cheerful  labors  for  the  Master;  that  are  so 
helpful  and  encouraging  to  the  needy  and  to 
the  tempted ;  whose  quiet  yet  positive  in- 
fluence is  felt  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  home 
circle ;  that  are  transformed  into  the  image 
of  the  heavenly,  the  Christlike  features  grow- 
67 


A  Heartening  Word. 

ing  ever  more  distinct — we  may  see  indis- 
putable evidence  of  the  spiritual  presence 
of  him  who  declared,  "  I  will  not  leave  you 
comfortless  :  I  will  come  to  you."  And  then, 
when  the  earthly  course  is  run,  when  the 
daily  toil  is  done,  when  the  appointed  mis- 
sion is  fulfilled ;  in  that  hour,  when  the  soul 
draws  nearer  the  bound  of  life  where  we  lay 
our  burdens  down,  it  is  the  same  Voice,  the 
voice  of  the  same  blessed  Saviour  and  Friend 
that  says,  "  Be  not  afraid ;  in  my  Father's 
house  are  many  mansions ;  I  have  come  to 
receive  you  unto  myself."  And  the  faith  of 
those  who  remain  can  see  the  glorified  soul 
and  the  Redeemer  holding  closest  fellowship 
in  paradise,  even  as  we  look  upon  the  en- 
rapturing scene  of  the  transfiguration  of  our 
Lord  upon  the  mount. 

Those  whom  we  often  think  of  and  speak 
of  as  dead  are,  in  reality,  not  dead,  but  are 
living  with  Jesus  in  heaven.  Living  with 
Jesus !  How,  then,  can  we  wish  to  call  them 
back  to  our  side,  to  enter  again  into  their 
former  associations  with  ourselves  ?  Would 
we,  indeed,  have  them  again  to  take  up  the 
dread  battle  with  sin, — to  suffer,  once  more, 
grief  and  pain  ?  The  presence  of  the  Re- 
deemer is  so  glorious,  and  the  blessedness  of 
those  who  have  gone  to  be  with  him  is  so 
beyond  finite  estimate,  that  instead  of  longing 
for  the  reunion  in  this  world,  we  have  the 
68 


The  Celestial  Country. 

same  ardent  craving  that  Paul  had,  when  he 
found  himself  in  a  strait  betwixt  two,  having 
a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better.  We  would  gladly  resign 
all  things  earthly  to  enter  into  the  beatific 
state  and  to  enjoy  the  glad  mutual  recog- 
nitions in  glory.  Yet  we  patiently  abide  here, 
knowing  it  is  our  Father's  will ;  nevertheless 
we  wait  for  the  summons  that  shall  usher  us 
to  our  eternal  rest. 

Our  varied  experiences  here  are  surely  of 
such  a  character  as  naturally  lead  us  to  look 
with  interest  and  hope  to  that  house  of  the 
many  mansions,  to  that  better  land  where  the 
inhabitants  never  say,  "I  am  sick;"  where 
death  never  obtrudes  its  unwelcome  pres- 
ence ;  and  where  sorrow  never  is  permitted. 
If  indeed  we  are  the  Lord's  own,  bound  to 
him  by  a  living  faith,  and  by  a  hope  that  can 
never  make  ashamed,  we  can  truly  say  of 
him: 

"  Thou  art  coming !     We  are  waiting 
With  a  hope  that  cannot  fail, 
Asking  not  the  day  or  hour, 
Anchored  safe  within  the  veil. 

"  Thou  art  coming  !     Thou  art  coming  ! 
We  shall  meet  thee  on  thy  way  ; 
Thou  art  coming !     We  shall  see  thee, 
And  be  like  thee  on  that  day." 

So  the  blessed  work  is   carried  on   from 

69 


A  Heartening  Word. 

step  to  step.  Soon  the  purpose  of  God  in 
the  earthly  hfe  will  be  fully  accomplished. 
Soon  will  be  heard  the  glad  summons  "  Come 
up  higher,"  and  right  joyful  will  be  the 
response.  There,  in  the  temple  not  made 
with  hands,  the  soul  is  presented  faultless 
before  the  presence  of  the  divine  glory  with 
exceeding  joy.  With  the  sorrows  of  earth 
ended,  its  duties  faithfully  performed,  its  con- 
flicts patiently  endured,  and  its  heat  and 
burden  heroically  borne,  the  soul  may  now 
well  be  satisfied,  having  awaked  in  the  like- 
ness of  God,  and  seeing  him  as  he  is.  He 
looks  upon  the  King  in  his  beauty.  He 
adores  unceasingly  the  dear  Redeemer  who 
purchased  him  with  his  own  precious  blood. 


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